Something I would never pay for....

[herm4]

My neighbor was telling me that they are expecting a new baby and will need to cut back on some expenses. She is thinking about cuting out her lawn service ($125.00) per month. Her cleaning lady ($150.00 per month) and the daycare she takes her daughter to, two days a week, so she can have some"free time". ($400.00 per month). These are things I WOULD NEVER pay for in the first place!!

[simpleyme]

well the thing about those types of expensives is if they decide to cut back they have a lot of areas they can cut ;-)

I bet all she does is think about it LOL

[MonkeyMama]

To each their own.

I used to feel like you, but things change. My pay has gone up 50% since having my first child and we have since got lawn service and are currently paying around $600/month for 2 in preschool. I had limited the costs to $300/month for one, and it will only be one year that I pay for the two. I have heard a lot of negatives things about this choice from people on this board. But frankly there is more to life than money, it has been very good for our family, and is certainly a luxury we can afford. I guess it's interesting because I don't expect any of these expenses to be very long-term. I don't expect we will need help with the yardwork once the kids are old enough to help and we can make it a family activity. With newborns it was just a chore we never seemed to have time for, and took my (limited) time away form my kids.

I have too many "super mom" friends who are very snide that we would need to put our kids in care at all. But it works for us. I get tired of hearing it. Particularly since we mostly see eye to eye (I am not into the whole daycare thing and we have made a huge effort not to "rely" on daycare). But you know, so the kids want to go play and get messy a couple of days a week - it has been wonderful for them. & it is certainly wonderful to get a break.

If something catastrophic were to happen those 2 things would be the first to go. Simple enough to cut if we could not afford. IT really does make it pretty easy to make a significant budget cut, if you don't get attached to these things. More power to her.

[Ima saver]

I would never pay ATM fees.

[FrugalFish]

I live in a very modest, middle class neighborhood, and we are one of a very few families that does not pay for lawn service. I would have a hard time paying for it, but DH and I also enjoy doing it so it's hardly a bad thing. The other neighbors that do their own also enjoy the work. I suppose if someone has the money and feel it's worth their while to have someone else do it, then that's good for them.

The one that strikes me the funniest is my neighbor who is a finish carpenter. He hires people to do work around his house that you would think he would do himself just based on his skills (i.e. build a patio cover). But as it turns out, he makes more money if he hires someone to do that kind of work, and works the same number of hours at his regular job...

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Never say never! I enjoy doing my own yard work, including the mowing. I used to think that as long as I was healthy and had a working mower, I'd never hire any one to do it....But then a couple people came along who I paid to do some edging or some mowing, because they really, really needed the work. Better to encourage someone in whatever work they can do for themselves than to simply hand out charity. It was that level of need.

One was a young man about to turn 18 who had just moved here to live with his mother. He had a barely working mower and weed-whacker. He had a rag sticking in the gas tank to close it up! Igave him a piece of aluminum foil for that. I actually had to provide him the nylon string to run the weed whacker as an edger for my lawn. He did not do a very good job, but I paid him anyway and gave him more string to use on his next couple jobs. In the days after that, I saw him several times going door to door with his mower and trimmer. One day he came back to ask if he could have more string! I gave it to him and reminded him to re-invest in the tools he needed. By the end of summer, he was better dressed as he went out to mow, and he had a brand new mower. I'm guessing he'd learned how to edge better, too. At least I hope so.

The other is a woman who doesn't speak English, so around here it is almost impossible for her to find regular employment. She has health problems that make her some days able, some days not. When I first met her she was fishing aluminum cans from the trash bins. She begged for work. Before I knew it, I was saving one section of yard for her to mow and pull the weeds off the fence once a week or so. A person like this who so wants to work should be able to do so. But where? Who would give her work? I decided it was actually kind of greedy of me not to sort of pass along my good fortune by paying for her help. This woman had come here from a country where a woman could be put to death for even seeking employment, so, good grief, I knew she had a strong drive if she had overcome that kind of conditioning and threat.

It actually wasn't easy for me to decide to hire these people. I enjoy the work, use it as one of my means of exercise, and would rather use the money for pleasures for myself. But their pleas for work did appeal to my conscience. We live in a time when it can be so hard for people on the bottom, people without skills, to get a job. The 18 year old told me he had not finished high school and to tell the truth, I doubt he is capable of it. The woman has told me she'd never had a day of school (yet she is working on her 3rd language and knows bits of a 4rth!). Sometimes I'd think of the concept of noblesse oblige*, and that was kind of off-putting to think of myself as the privileged person. But, well, relatively speaking, I really am privileged.

I have tried to be more of a friend than employer to the woman, and it has been really interesting getting to know her and her extended family. It has been eye opening, in fact. It is great that I get to learn about a very different part of the world because it came straight to my neighborhood. Things I'd only read about in books and National Geographic I find in my living room and dining room now. Isn't that a different kind of privilege?

So anyway, I who thought pretty strongly that I did not want to hire someone for yard work now do so. I guess ya never know....

*Wikipedia's explanation includes references to Spider Man and Mary Poppins! Noblesse oblige - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[marvholly]

I am 61, thus I do use a lawn care service. They do a general weekly in about 30 min. It would take me 4 hours and I would be exhausted plus I would have to own, maintain and "feed" all the equipment AND pay the village to take away all the lawn/garden debris. Cost me 12.50/week and WELL worth it to me.

I do still do my own house cleaning but am considering getting a service 1x/month (about $75) since it is something I HATE and major put off doing. It takes me a full day and in 8 hours I can actually clear nearly twice as much after taxes/deductions. The only reason I am still holding back is that I tend to do it while watching football, basketball and/or baseball.

I also have decided (after doing the master bath) that I need to hire someone to paint 2 rooms. Again I HATED it and the money/time issue works better if hired out.

Everyone must balance/budget these things for themselves. I have no debt, no mortgage or car payment, decent retirement savings and a healthy emergency fund. I cut back on clothes (have LOTS-been same size since college), eating out (do it but w/ coupons), shopping sales for house, cat, grocery items, no cable and a prepaid cell.

[herm4]

O.K. I guess I shouldn't say "never" but if I CAN (or my husband, lol!) do these things myself, I will. I think it is important for my kids to see that WE don't mind a little hard work.

[disneysteve]

I live in a very modest, middle class neighborhood, and we are one of a very few families that does not pay for lawn service.

This described me exactly, until a couple of years ago. When we moved in, my MIL gave me the mower she wasn't using anymore. That lasted one season, then I bought a decent (nothing fancy) mower for about $250 and used it for the next 10 years.

Here's the thing, though. I hated doing it. And, quite honestly, I never did a particularly good job. It was passable, but more often than not, I wouldn't get to the lawn until 3 or 4 or 5 weeks had gone by and the lawn looked lousy.

So once I paid off my student loans, I treated myself and hired someone to do the lawn. Nothing fancy. Just mow and edge. I pay $25 every other week. It is well worth it to me to not have the aggravation of doing it myself and to always have the lawn looking nice and clean.

[jodi]

I guess it's all a matter of priority for each person. If you have the money and would rather spend your time doing other things, then I see nothing wrong with that. I just started sending my youngest (almost 3) to daycare two days a week instead of having my mom watch him so he can play with other kids. We live in a rural area, so the only other kids he sees are his brother and cousin, both of whom started school this year. If we had to cut back, we would, but it's in the budget right now. And I certainly don't mind the break either!

[disneysteve]

I guess it's all a matter of priority for each person.

I agree. Priorities is a concept I'm always preaching around here. We all have different ones. Doesn't make them right or wrong - just different. I'd never spend $30,000 on a car while some people think we're nuts for spending thousands every year on vacations, for example. I don't mind spending $50/month for lawn care but I'd never pay that much for cable TV. That just isn't a priority for me, but may be for others.

Another thing to consider is income. If you earn $10/hr, paying for lawn care might look different than if you earn, say, $50/hr. Personally, I made enough just in surveys in September to cover lawn care for almost the next 2 years. So I'll keep on paying someone to do that job for me. My priorities lie elsewhere.

[QuadSquadMom]

It's neat to see the various viewpoints of people in differing places in their lives. I love this!

As for us, DH hates to actually do the lawn, but is the pickiest person I've ever seen regarding the edging and detail of the lawn! When I've hired out in the past, he didn't like the results (edge wasn't deep or crisp enough, etc.).

He usually works 6 days a week and I feel like he should not spend the 4.5-5 hours it takes to do the lawn on the 1 full day he's off. It's my preference that we hire out for it ($25-30 every other week), as I consider that much like buying back his free time. DH thinks it's a waste of $, but I just don't see it that way.

Most of this summer he has done it himself, but one day he surprised me by hiring a crew working at our neighbors to do it.

He ended up admitting how nice it was to drive up & see it finished and that he didn't have to sweat it out all day!

I was amazed that the crew pulled up, mowed the front and back yard, edged, cleaned up and packed up all in 20 minutes, all with DH liking the finished product!!

Hiring out will still just be a one-off thing going forward around here; thus keeping the balance and hence the peace.

[PrincessPerky]

Totally agree you pay for what you believe in, however if you are complaining about money, if you 'need caller ID so you know when creditors are calling' than you prolly shouldn't have lawn care, a cleaning lady, or preschool

On the other hand I would hire all but the preschool if I had the cash (and I would pay for more classes for the kids had I the cash, just on a per class basis.)

[InDebtInDC]

In their defense, I'm extremely allergic to trees, grass, pollen, most insetcts, etc. If I spend too much time outdoors the hospital bills will probably be higher than a lawn care service